Central America

Ortega a shoo-in in ‘sham’ Nicaragua vote

AFP

Nicaraguans go to the polls Sunday for presidential elections dismissed as a “sham” by the international community, with all viable challengers to long-term leader Daniel Ortega locked up or in exile.

As Ortega, 75, prepared to claim a fourth consecutive term — his fifth overall — the United States described Nicaragua as a “cautionary tale” with a regime “determined to hold on to power at any cost.”

“It will be quite clear that these elections will have no credibility, that they’re a sham,” Patrick Ventrell, the US State Department’s Central American Affairs director said Thursday.

“We are going into a scenario where you have a dictatorship, and we’ll have to respond to such.”

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Just over three years after massive protests against his rule and a violent crackdown that claimed more than 300 lives, Ortega is assured another five-year term with his wife and vice-president, Rosario Murillo, 70, by his side.

Seven people who had any real shot at the presidency are among 39 opposition figures detained in a brutal government clampdown that started in June.

Ortega, the leader of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN), faces five opponents, though in name only — all are derided as regime collaborators.

The vote in Central America’s poorest country will take place without international observers and with most foreign media denied access to the country.

Nicaragua’s last opposition daily, La Prensa, had its director thrown in prison in August, and Facebook announced this week it had closed a government-operated troll farm spreading anti-opposition messages.

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Amid the suppression, fear vies with apathy among Nicaragua’s 4.3 million eligible voters. Voting is not mandatory in the country of 6.5 million.

“There is no one to vote for. Daniel (Ortega) has it in the bag,” a 46-year-old woman told AFP at her home in Masaya, 35 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital Managua.

She asked not to be named. “One cannot talk. You’ll go to jail,” she said.

– All sewn up –

A firebrand Marxist in his youth, Ortega ruled Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, after the guerrilla ousting of US-backed dictator Anastasio Somoza Debayle.

Returning to power in 2007, he has won reelection three times, becoming increasingly authoritarian and quashing presidential term limits.

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Two-thirds of respondents in a recent Cid-Gallup poll said they would have voted for an opposition candidate on Sunday.

The favorite was Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of Violeta Barrios de Chamorro who is the only person to have beaten Ortega in an election, in 1990.

But Chamorro is under house arrest, and six other presidential hopefuls are behind bars in conditions their family members say amount to torture.

The jailed opposition figures are accused of unspecified attacks on Nicaragua’s “sovereignty” under a law passed by a parliament dominated by Ortega allies, who also control the judicial and electoral branches.

Election authorities have banned the country’s main opposition alliance, Citizens for Freedom, from contesting Sunday’s vote, just like in 2016 when Ortega won unopposed.

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Three political parties and dozens of civic organizations are prohibited.

– ‘A complete sham’ –

A grouping of Nicaraguan and international NGOs this week urged the United Nations to investigate “gross human rights violations” under Ortega’s rule.

“Ortega will continue in power… and the repression against those who defend human rights and think differently to the regime will likely worsen,” said the group that calls itself Colectivo 46/2.

Apart from about 150 political opponents known to be behind bars, more than 100,000 Nicaraguans are in exile to avoid arrest — mainly in Costa Rica, Miami and Madrid.

For Ortega — whose main allies are Venezuela, Cuba and Russia — his jailed critics are not political prisoners but “criminals” seeking to overthrow him with US backing.

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– ‘Dictator’ –

The wave of arrests has worsened ties with the United States and European Union, who have imposed sanctions against Ortega family members and allies.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has branded Ortega a “dictator” staging “fake” elections, and on Wednesday, the US Congress approved a law to ramp up punitive measures.

In the United States, Europe and other Latin American countries, opponents of the Ortega regime are planning protests for Sunday and agitating for a boycott of the vote.

In Nicaragua itself, gatherings of more than 200 people are banned, ostensibly as a coronavirus prevention measure.

More than 30,000 police and military have been deployed to guard 3,000 polling stations.

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Polls are due to open at 13H00 GMT (7:00 am) and close 11 hours later.

The results, predictable as they are, are expected the same day.

Central America

Panama Canal Monitoring Trade as Middle East Conflict Disrupts Shipping

The Panama Canal Authority (ACP) said Monday it is closely monitoring global maritime trade developments following the conflict triggered by joint U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran.

However, the ACP described it as “premature” to predict potential consequences for vessel traffic through the interoceanic waterway, which handles roughly 5% of global maritime trade.

“The Panama Canal continuously monitors the evolution of international maritime trade and the dynamics that may influence its flows,” the authority said in a statement. The canal’s main users are the United States and China, connecting primarily the U.S. East Coast with Asia, including South Korea and Japan.

The ACP emphasized that the canal “continues to operate safely, efficiently, and reliably,” providing uninterrupted service to the global maritime community.

Global Shipping Disruptions

The U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory actions have disrupted global maritime traffic, particularly oil tanker routes.

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Shipping giants Maersk and CMA CGM have suspended transits through the Strait of Hormuz as well as crossings via the Suez Canal, the key route linking the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

As a result, cargo vessels are now rerouting around Africa to reach Europe from the Middle East and Asia — a detour that adds several thousand kilometers and several days to voyages.

Central America

Washington Imposes Visa Ban on La Modelo Director Amid Crackdown in Nicaragua

The United States government announced Wednesday that it has imposed visa restrictions on Roberto Clemente Guevara Gómez, director of Nicaragua’s largest prison, La Modelo, for his involvement in actions that violate human rights.

In a statement, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the measure is intended to promote accountability for abuses committed under what he described as the “Murillo-Ortega dictatorship” against political prisoners.

Rubio specified that Guevara Gómez was designated for participating in “a gross violation of the human rights of a political prisoner.” The sanction was issued under the 2024 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, which bars the sanctioned individual — and potentially immediate family members — from entering the United States.

“United States demands the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners unjustly detained in Nicaragua,” the statement added.

Ongoing tensions between Washington and Managua

Washington rejected Nicaragua’s November 2021 elections, in which President Daniel Ortega and his wife, now co-president Rosario Murillo, were reelected while seven potential challengers were in prison.

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Relations between the two countries remain tense amid expanding U.S. sanctions and increasing diplomatic pressure on the Nicaraguan government.

On January 10, marking Ortega’s 19 years in power, Nicaragua released “dozens of detainees,” including political prisoners. The move came one day after the U.S. Embassy in Managua stated that “more than 60 people” remain “unjustly detained or disappeared” in the Central American nation.

U.S. officials have continued to push for the “unconditional release” of political prisoners rather than selective or temporary releases.

Ortega, 80, governs alongside Murillo with consolidated authority, having strengthened executive power through constitutional reforms and security measures, while the opposition has been weakened by imprisonment, exile, and the revocation of citizenship and property rights.

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Central America

Guatemala’s Attorney General Consuelo Porras Loses Bid for Constitutional Court Seat

Guatemala’s attorney general, Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States over corruption allegations, lost a key vote on Monday in which a public university selected two of the 10 magistrates for the country’s highest constitutional court. However, she could still seek a seat through another nominating body.

The election of five full magistrates and five alternates to the Corte de Constitucionalidad (CC) is taking place gradually over more than two months and is considered crucial in the ongoing struggle for control of Guatemala’s judiciary, which critics say has long been influenced by a political and economic elite accused of corruption.

According to results announced at a press conference, the governing council of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC) rejected Porras, who had applied as either a full or alternate magistrate, and instead chose two candidates aligned with the university rector. The vote was held at a hotel in Antigua, about 35 kilometers from the capital.

Despite the setback, Porras — whose term as attorney general ends on May 16 — could still be nominated to the Constitutional Court by the Corte Suprema de Justicia, which appoints two magistrates. The remaining six are selected by the president, the bar association and Congress.

“It’s always a possibility,” the 72-year-old lawyer said days earlier when asked by reporters whether she would seek nomination through another institution if she lost the USAC vote.

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Porras has been sanctioned by Washington and the European Union for allegedly attempting two years ago to block the inauguration of President Bernardo Arévalo and for pursuing legal actions against anti-corruption prosecutors, judges, journalists and social leaders since taking office in 2018.

The USAC vote was controversial because most members of the university’s governing council are serving beyond the expiration of their terms. Students, academics and social activists staged protests against Porras’ candidacy.